Avaya Solutions in the Hotel and Lodging Industry

Introduction: In today’s hospitality market, communication technology plays a pivotal role in delivering a 5-star guest experience and efficient operations. Avaya – a long-time leader in enterprise communications – has a particularly strong footprint in hotels and resorts, with its solutions used by 9 of the world’s top 10 hotel chains (Source: themaynardgroup.com) and over 2,500 hotels globally (Source: globenewswire.com). Avaya’s hospitality portfolio spans unified communications, contact center systems, cloud communication services, and mobility tools, all tailored to the unique needs of hotels. This report provides a comprehensive overview of Avaya’s offerings for the hotel and lodging industry, how they improve guest experiences and staff efficiency, integration capabilities with hotel systems, real-world case studies, comparisons with competitors, technical and ROI considerations, pricing models, security compliance, and future trends (AI, cloud, hybrid work). The focus is on recent developments (past 2–3 years) and insights from reputable sources, including Avaya’s own publications, industry case studies, and hospitality tech experts.

Avaya’s Hospitality-Focused Offerings

Unified Communications (UC) for Hotels: Avaya provides end-to-end telephony and collaboration platforms that serve as the backbone of hotel communications. The flagship Avaya Aura enterprise UC suite and the mid-market Avaya IP Office platform deliver hotel PBX functionality (voice calling, voicemail, extension management) with modern UC features like voicemail-to-email, conferencing, and presence. Notably, Avaya systems support both IP and legacy analog endpoints – a crucial feature for hotels with hundreds of in-room phones. For example, Avaya IP Office can support hybrid analog and digital phone lines, allowing hotels to migrate from older analog phones to IP phones in phases without disruption (Source: uctoday.com). This hybrid capability lets properties reuse existing room phone wiring and gradually upgrade devices over time, avoiding a costly overnight overhaul (Source: uctoday.com). Avaya’s UC solutions also include softphone apps (for PC and mobile), enabling staff to have hotel extension functionality on their smartphones or laptops, and web-based admin consoles for easy management (Source: uctoday.com). Many hotels choose Avaya UC for its reliability and flexibility – in one case, a luxury hotel upgrading from an end-of-life PBX selected Avaya IP Office as a “more flexible, scalable, and cloud-based alternative” that integrated seamlessly with existing systems (Source: uctoday.com).

Contact Center and Guest Services: Avaya is renowned for its contact center solutions, which hotels leverage for reservations, guest requests, and concierge services. The Avaya Contact Center portfolio (on-premises Avaya Aura Contact Center Elite and the cloud-based Avaya Experience Platform) provides skills-based call routing, IVR (interactive voice response), multi-channel interaction (voice, email, chat, social), and analytics. Large hotel groups often use Avaya to run central reservation centers or in-house guest service call centers. For instance, Accor Hotels (with 5,000+ properties worldwide) has relied on Avaya contact center technology for over 20 years, citing its “rock solid” reliability and support as critical to enhancing the guest journey (Source: tourismbreakingnews.ae). Avaya’s solutions enable hotels to treat the contact center as a seamless extension of on-property service, ensuring that guest inquiries (whether phone calls, texts, or web chats) are handled promptly and personalized. Modern Avaya contact center systems are also AI-powered – e.g. integrating virtual agents or chatbots for routine inquiries – and omnichannel, meaning a guest can start a conversation on one channel (say, Facebook Messenger) and continue on another (phone call) without losing context (Source: insights.ehotelier.com)(Source: insights.ehotelier.com). This omnichannel approach is increasingly important as guests expect to reach hotel services via their preferred channel at any time.

Cloud Communications and Hybrid Models: Recognizing the industry trend toward cloud solutions, Avaya has expanded its offerings to include cloud communication services suitable for hospitality. Avaya Cloud Office (a UCaaS offering co-branded with RingCentral) delivers PBX and collaboration features via the cloud on a per-user subscription model, which can appeal to select-service hotels or new properties that want to avoid on-premises hardware. For contact centers, the Avaya Experience Platform (OneCloud CCaaS) provides a cloud-based contact center with AI capabilities, available in many regions globally (Source: avaya.com). That said, many hotels still favor on-prem or hybrid deployments due to reliability and cost considerations (for example, avoiding a cloud subscription for every guestroom phone). Avaya’s strategy acknowledges this reality by enabling “innovation without disruption,” allowing cloud features to be layered on existing systems at the customer’s own pace (Source: avaya.com)(Source: avaya.com). In 2023 Avaya even introduced an Enterprise Cloud solution on Microsoft Azure that integrates with legacy Avaya PBXs, giving hotels cloud-based innovation (like AI analytics or remote agent connectivity) while retaining their stable on-site phone infrastructure (Source: nextiva.com)(Source: avaya.com). This flexible approach is well-suited to hospitality, where mission-critical PBX systems are expected to run 24/7 and any downtime directly impacts guest service. In summary, Avaya offers hotels the choice of ** on-premises, cloud, or hybrid** models – from traditional PBXs with SIP trunks to fully hosted communications – with a focus on letting each property or chain migrate to cloud benefits on their own timeline (Source: avaya.com).

Mobility and In-Room Technology: Mobility is a cornerstone of Avaya’s hotel solutions, benefiting both guests and staff. On the guest side, Avaya’s hospitality phone devices (like the Avaya Vantage™ series) are transforming the in-room phone into a smart hub for services. The Avaya Vantage is a touchscreen desktop “smartphone” that can run Android apps – Avaya’s Intelligent Hotel Room Experience package leverages Vantage to put concierge services at guests’ fingertips (Source: rcrwireless.com). Using the in-room device, guests can access venue information, request housekeeping or room-service, book spa appointments, control the thermostat and door locks, view restaurant menus or city guides, and even interact with their personal mobile devices (Source: rcrwireless.com)(Source: rcrwireless.com). Avaya packages these capabilities as a turnkey solution (devices + software + integrations), so hotels no longer need custom third-party apps to provide such digital in-room services (Source: rcrwireless.com). For example, Avaya’s Intelligent Hotel Room Experience enables features like in-room dining orders, automated wake-up calls, “do not disturb” controls, and IPTV integration through the Vantage device (Source: rcrwireless.com). This not only elevates the guest’s experience of the room (making it feel high-tech and personalized) but also drives operational efficiency by routing requests directly to the appropriate staff system.

Guests can use Avaya’s in-room smart devices (such as the Avaya Vantage™ tablet-phone on the nightstand) to access hotel services and controls. These advanced hospitality phones integrate communications with features like room controls, service ordering, and personalized content – enhancing convenience and the overall guest experience (Source: rcrwireless.com)(Source: rcrwireless.com).

On the staff side, Avaya’s mobility solutions ensure hotel employees stay connected and responsive as they move about the property. Avaya offers mobile apps (for iOS/Android) that extend the hotel’s unified communications to employees’ smartphones, plus DECT/Wi-Fi wireless handsets for housekeeping, maintenance, and security staff who need durable on-site phones. Features like “mobile twinning” ring a staffer’s desk extension and mobile phone simultaneously, so, for example, a sales manager on the go doesn’t miss an important client call (Source: uctoday.com). At The Old Mill Toronto (a luxury hotel and event venue), implementing Avaya UC with mobile twinning meant sales team members no longer worry about missing calls when away from their desks – all calls to their office line also ring on their cell, enabling instant response from anywhere on the property (Source: uctoday.com). Additionally, Avaya’s Visual Voicemail and voicemail-to-email features let staff retrieve messages more efficiently. The Old Mill’s employees praised Avaya’s visual voicemail interface, which let them access messages from the phone screen instead of dialing in and navigating prompts, and the ability to get voicemail transcriptions via email for quicker follow-up (Source: uctoday.com)(Source: uctoday.com). All these tools contribute to a more mobile and agile workforce, which is crucial in a hotel environment where many roles are not desk-bound.

Enhancing Guest Experience and Service Quality

Personalized, Omnichannel Guest Engagement: Modern travelers expect high-touch, personalized service – and Avaya’s solutions help hotels deliver on these expectations at scale. A key benefit is the ability to create adaptable, personalized experiences across the entire guest journey (Source: themaynardgroup.com). For example, Avaya enables hotels to send custom pre-arrival messages or location-based offers to guests’ devices, and to stay engaged with guests during and after their stay via their preferred channels (Source: themaynardgroup.com). In fact, a hospitality market survey found 70% of hotels struggle to keep guests engaged during and post-stay, revealing an opportunity for better communication tech (Source: globenewswire.com). With Avaya, hotels can interact with guests over any device or channel – phone, SMS, mobile app, web chat, social messaging, email – all integrated on one platform (Source: themaynardgroup.com). This means a guest texting the front desk or messaging via WhatsApp gets the same prompt, informed response as if they called on the room phone. A real-life example is Travel Outlook, a hotel call-center service that implemented an Avaya-based omnichannel telephony system to unify voice calls, text, TripAdvisor chat, WhatsApp, and more into one console (Source: insights.ehotelier.com). This allowed hotels to engage guests like never before, meeting them on their terms while maintaining a consistent service level (Source: insights.ehotelier.com)(Source: insights.ehotelier.com). By capturing each guest’s communication history and preferences, Avaya’s solutions let hotel agents tailor their interactions – for instance, greeting a returning guest by name and anticipating their needs based on past stays (data often pulled from an integrated CRM or PMS). Such personalization “feels like luxury” to guests and drives loyalty (Source: globenewswire.com). In the words of an Avaya hospitality VP, “the guest experience is more important than price when it comes to repeat customers,” so hotels are leveraging communications tech to create memorable, differentiated experiences at a reasonable cost (Source: globenewswire.com).

Faster Service and Proactive Support: Avaya technologies also significantly speed up guest service delivery, reducing the friction and wait times that frustrate travelers. By deploying Avaya contact center solutions for guest requests, hotels ensure that calls (or messages) reach the right staff instantly, and no guest is left on hold or bounced around. For example, with an Avaya IX Contact Center in place, a hotel can route incoming service calls based on skill or department – housekeeping requests to housekeeping staff, spa appointment calls to the spa desk, etc. – instead of everything funneling through a busy operator. The TIME Hotels chain in the UAE implemented an Avaya unified communications and contact center platform that automated many guest services (wake-up calls, booking reminders, info requests) and saw immediate improvements (Source: tourismbreakingnews.ae). Routine tasks like scheduling wake-up calls were handled automatically by the system, freeing staff to focus on personalized guest interactions. For on-demand needs, Avaya’s real-time visibility tools help staff respond faster. At The Old Mill Toronto, before Avaya, receptionists would blindly transfer calls to employee extensions not knowing if that person was available – often leading to multiple transfers (Source: uctoday.com). After installing Avaya IP Office with presence-aware Soft Console, receptionists could see at a glance who is available (and even each extension’s status) and route guest calls appropriately (Source: uctoday.com). This end-to-end visibility eliminated guesswork and cut down hold times, thereby improving first-call resolution for guest inquiries. Moreover, Avaya supports proactive guest service: by integrating guest data and using features like automated alerts, hotels can anticipate needs. For instance, if a VIP guest checks in, an Avaya workflow might automatically notify the guest relations manager to personally welcome them (via a screen-pop on their device). In the future, AI-driven Avaya solutions could even predict guest needs – for example, recognizing through flight data that a guest will arrive late and proactively offering a late check-out. Avaya’s vision is moving from reactive problem-solving to predictive, proactive service by unifying data and applying AI orchestration (Source: avaya.com)(Source: avaya.com), which could truly elevate the guest experience in hospitality.

Enriched In-Room Experience: Beyond speed, Avaya helps hotels add “wow factor” convenience in guestrooms, making stays more comfortable. The classic hotel room phone has often been underutilized, but Avaya has reinvented it with the Vantage smart device and associated integrations. Now, guests can do things like one-touch control of room lighting and temperature, multimedia entertainment, and instant service ordering from an in-room tablet phone (Source: rcrwireless.com). Avaya reports that hotels using its Intelligent Hotel Room Experience allow guests to control the TV, request their car from valet, or view their bill from the same device they use to call the front desk (Source: rcrwireless.com)(Source: rcrwireless.com). Such capabilities not only delight tech-savvy guests but also reinforce safety and comfort (e.g. a guest can use the device’s camera integration to see who is at the door before opening, or receive security alerts if needed (Source: themaynardgroup.com)). Especially in upscale and luxury hotels, these personalized in-room tech experiences – powered by Avaya’s combination of communications and IoT integration – become a selling point. Indeed, analysts project that hospitality is the #1 growth vertical for advanced IP media devices like Avaya Vantage, with an 11.2% CAGR in device shipments expected through 2025 (Source: rcrwireless.com). Hotels see a direct correlation between such tech amenities and guest satisfaction scores. For example, Best Western’s Boulder Falls Inn implemented Avaya for guest Wi-Fi and phones and was “pleasantly surprised” to rank in the top 3 of 293 properties for wireless service – exceeding guest expectations for a rural location (Source: pvu.thebluebook.com). The GM noted that “Avaya’s products...really brought the whole solution together,” contributing to seamless conference attendee experiences and overall reliability that impressed guests (Source: pvu.thebluebook.com)(Source: pvu.thebluebook.com). In sum, Avaya’s solutions help hotels turn communications touchpoints (calls, messages, in-room devices) into opportunities to wow guests with convenience, responsiveness, and a personal touch.

Improving Operational Efficiency and Staff Coordination

Streamlined Staff Communication & Collaboration: Hotels are complex operations with employees spread across front desk, housekeeping, maintenance, food & beverage, security, sales, and more – often working 24/7. Avaya’s unified communications tools bring all these roles onto one integrated communication platform, greatly enhancing internal coordination. Each staff member, whether at a fixed location or roaming the property, can be reachable through their Avaya extension or mobile client, and can easily reach colleagues via short extension dialing, conference calls, or instant messaging (if using Avaya’s collaboration apps). Avaya systems integrate communications into daily workflows (Source: themaynardgroup.com) – for example, a housekeeping supervisor can update room status by calling or texting a code that directly updates the PMS, and the front desk gets notified instantly. By automating workflows and tying communications into hotel operations systems, Avaya helps eliminate manual steps and errors (Source: themaynardgroup.com)(Source: themaynardgroup.com). One notable impact is the reduction of radio chatter or physically searching for staff on-property; instead, targeted communication and broadcast groups ensure the right people get the message. At The Old Mill, after deploying Avaya, the IT team created departmental groups and utilized the Avaya platform’s presence features to coordinate employees in real time. If the reservations line started getting a surge of calls, the administrator could see call volume spikes live and reallocate staff from other departments (like catering or reception) to help handle calls, all through the Avaya system’s monitoring tools (Source: uctoday.com)(Source: uctoday.com). This kind of dynamic staff coordination was not possible with the old PBX, and it allowed the hotel to maintain service levels during peak demand by leveraging otherwise idle staff (Source: uctoday.com). Avaya’s group paging and conferencing features also aid emergency communication – e.g. instantly alerting all managers about a fire alarm event. Overall, unifying voice, email, and messaging for staff on one platform improves productivity and reduces miscommunication. Surveys indicate 60% of hotels felt their staff’s inability to communicate effectively was hurting the guest experience (Source: globenewswire.com); Avaya addresses this by giving employees user-friendly tools (like one-number reach, corporate directories, and push-to-talk features) so that everyone from the GM to the night janitor stays connected and informed.

Simplified IT Management and Reliability: From an operations perspective, Avaya solutions are designed to be efficient to manage and maintain, which is a cost saver for hotels with lean IT teams. The move from older analog PBXs to Avaya’s IP-based systems centralizes and simplifies administration. For instance, with Avaya IP Office, The Old Mill’s IT administrator can manage all user accounts and phone settings through a single web interface – “accounts for all users on a single site [visible] through a dedicated web-based interface” (Source: uctoday.com) – instead of having to manually re-patch phone lines or program changes on a hardware console. Tasks like an employee moving offices are trivial: the admin just drags the extension to a new location in the GUI or updates a setting, whereas before they might have physically rewired ports (Source: uctoday.com). As the Old Mill noted, “whenever an employee switches departments now, the admin can simply transfer their extension to a new desk through the web”, with no fuss (Source: uctoday.com). Troubleshooting also becomes faster – the staff can get a holistic view of the network on screen, and even remote support from Avaya partners is easier when everything is software-controlled. This minimizes IT headaches and allows small IT teams to support large hotel operations (Source: uctoday.com)(Source: uctoday.com).

Reliability is another key operational benefit. Hotels require 24/7 uptime for phones (for guest safety and service), and Avaya systems are known for their carrier-grade reliability and redundancy options. Many hotels deploy Avaya in high-availability configurations (e.g. dual servers or failover to cloud in case of on-site failure) to ensure continuous operation. The value of reliability is highlighted by Boulder Falls Inn’s GM, who after deploying Avaya IP Office for communications remarked: “As far as systems go, it’s the most reliable one we have on property. We sometimes experience challenges with other systems, but the Avaya solutions have not been one of them.” (Source: pvu.thebluebook.com). Fewer outages mean less revenue loss and less staff time spent firefighting technology issues. Additionally, automation of routine services via Avaya reduces labor costs and errors – TIME Hotels managed to automate wake-up calls, reservation reminders, and information requests using Avaya, which not only improved service consistency but also “helped reduce our CapEx and OpEx by up to 30%,” according to their Corporate IT Director (Source: tourismbreakingnews.ae). That 30% cost reduction came in part from needing fewer operators and avoiding expensive third-party service fees, thanks to the capabilities built into Avaya’s contact center and UC platform (Source: tourismbreakingnews.ae).

Workforce Optimization and Analytics: Avaya also offers tools for workforce optimization (WFO) which are valuable in hospitality contact centers and large properties. These include call recording, quality monitoring, and scheduling software that can be used for training staff and improving service processes. For example, a hotel reservations center can record calls through Avaya Workforce Engagement and then review them for coaching agents on upselling or handling difficult situations. Avaya’s systems can generate detailed reports on call volumes, response times, and service levels, giving management actionable data to adjust staffing or procedures. Real-time dashboards might show how quickly guest requests are answered, or which times of day see spikes in inquiries – enabling data-driven decision making. Some hotels integrate these analytics with guest satisfaction scores (from post-stay surveys), aiming to correlate communication efficiency with guest sentiments. As Avaya’s solutions unify multiple channels, managers can get a holistic view of guest interaction quality. In the future, Avaya is incorporating AI for sentiment analysis on voice interactions and intelligent prompts for agents (e.g., suggesting answers or cross-sell offers), which can further boost staff effectiveness (Source: avaya.com)(Source: avaya.com). This convergence of communications and intelligence helps hotel teams work smarter, not just harder.

In summary, Avaya’s hospitality solutions drive internal efficiency by breaking down communication silos between departments, automating routine tasks, simplifying system management, and ensuring robust, reliable operation. The result is a hotel staff that can communicate and collaborate effortlessly, respond to guest needs faster, and focus more on delivering great service than on dealing with technology – all of which ultimately improves the guest experience and the hotel’s bottom line.

Integration with Hospitality Systems (PMS, CRM, IoT)

One of Avaya’s greatest strengths in the hotel sector is its ability to integrate with other hotel management systems, ensuring that communications are not siloed but rather enhance core operations. Key integration areas include:

• Property Management Systems (PMS): Avaya communication platforms have long provided interfaces to popular hotel PMS solutions (such as Oracle Hospitality OPERA, Agilysys, Infor HMS, etc.). This integration is crucial for automating processes tied to guest check-in/out, room status, billing, and more. For example, when a guest checks in and the front desk assigns a room in the PMS, the PMS can signal the Avaya PBX to automatically activate that room’s phone, apply the guest’s name to the caller ID, set the proper class of service (allowing outside calls or not), and enable voicemail (Source: documentation.avaya.com). Likewise, upon check-out, the phone can be automatically locked for outside dialing, voicemails cleared, and wake-up calls canceled. Avaya’s integration module (often referred to as PMS Link or hospitality API) handles this handshake between the PBX and PMS (Source: documentation.avaya.com). Avaya Communication Manager (the core of Avaya Aura) natively supports the industry-standard Fidelio/OPERA Interface (FIAS) protocol for PMS, and Avaya IP Office can achieve PMS integration through certified middleware (e.g., DuVoice or TigerTMS) (Source: tek-tips.com). Many hotels utilize Avaya DevConnect partners such as Percipia or TigerTMS to bridge advanced PMS functions – for instance, posting call charges to the guest folio in real time, or enabling a guest to request checkout via the phone interface (Source: insights.ehotelier.com). The end result is a seamless workflow: staff don’t need to manually program phones at check-in, and guests’ interactions with phones (like using room service speed-dial) can trigger PMS events (like opening a service ticket or recording a charge). A concrete example is Moxy Hotels: they chose Avaya IX Workplace partly due to its “open API scope and expanded integration with a plethora of hospitality vendors,” which allowed easy integration with their PMS and other systems and the flexibility to expand features in the future (Source: tmcnet.com). Indeed, Moxy’s Avaya platform was integrated with multiple hospitality solutions from day one, enabling telephony to work in concert with the property’s management software (Source: hotelmanagement.net)(Source: hotelmanagement.net).

• Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Loyalty Systems: Hotels highly value recognizing their guests and personalizing service accordingly. Avaya’s contact center solutions can integrate with CRM or guest loyalty databases so that when a guest calls the reservation line or front desk, the system can screen-pop the guest’s profile to the agent. This profile might show the guest’s loyalty status, preferences (e.g., high-floor room, foam pillows), past stay history, and any open service cases. With such integration, an agent can warmly greet a Platinum member by name and offer tailored assistance, which significantly enhances guest satisfaction. Avaya supports CRM integration via CTI (Computer Telephony Integration) connectors or web APIs – for example, connecting to Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, or a hotel’s custom CRM. If a hotel uses a CRM-linked guest app, Avaya can unify those interactions as well; for instance, a chat initiated from the app can be routed through Avaya’s contact center with context. Accor’s global reservation centers use Avaya integrated with their CRM, enabling them to track and improve guest interactions across thousands of properties (Source: tourismbreakingnews.ae). In essence, Avaya acts as the communications glue that links the guest data from business systems to real-time interactions.

• Staff Workflow Systems: Integration isn’t only about guest-facing systems. Avaya can also hook into staff-facing applications such as ticketing systems (for maintenance or IT), task management (housekeeping room assignment systems), and incident management. For example, if a guest calls to report a burnt-out light in their room, an Avaya workflow could automatically create a maintenance ticket in the hotel’s system (like HotSOS or Salesforce Service Cloud) with the room number and issue, and then route the call to engineering. Or if a fire alarm triggers, Avaya could broadcast a pre-recorded announcement to all floor wardens’ phones and simultaneously log an incident. Many hotels leverage Avaya Breeze, an application platform, to build custom workflows and integrations (e.g., sending an SMS to a manager when a VIP checks in, or integrating Alexa voice commands in rooms to Avaya’s dialing). Avaya explicitly encourages integrating communications into daily workflows to improve task management (Source: themaynardgroup.com). By doing so, hotels can enforce service standards – for instance, if a guest texts “need towels” to a hotel’s number, it can create a housekeeping task and also ensure a confirmation reply via Avaya’s messaging integration, closing the loop.

• Point of Sale (POS) and Billing: Some Avaya integrations link with restaurant or spa POS systems. For instance, guests might order room service through the Avaya Vantage device; this request can flow into the F&B POS (so the kitchen gets it) and also trigger a charge posting to the room in the PMS. Avaya’s platform, using Breeze Client SDK (CSDK), allows integration points to POS, room controls, third-party booking systems, IPTV, and more (Source: rcrwireless.com). This means the communications hub (Avaya) can orchestrate transactions between various subsystems. In one scenario, a guest could use the in-room tablet to reserve a table at the hotel restaurant (booking goes to the OpenTable-like system via Avaya integration) and then receive a confirmation call or message automatically. Such integration not only improves guest convenience but also reduces manual data entry by staff.

• IoT and Building Management: Increasingly, hotels are exploring IoT devices (smart thermostats, sensors, voice assistants). Avaya has made its communications platforms IoT-friendly by providing APIs and frameworks to connect these devices. For example, Avaya’s Intelligent Hotel Room Experience ties into thermostat controls, smart lighting, door locks, and in-room voice control (Source: rcrwireless.com). When a guest adjusts the thermostat on the Avaya Vantage screen or via a voice command, it passes through Avaya’s system to the building management system. If a guest says “Do Not Disturb” to a voice assistant, Avaya can signal the PBX to set that status on the room phone and perhaps communicate it to housekeeping systems. Avaya has demonstrated integration with voice AI platforms (like Amazon Alexa or IBM Watson Assistant) specifically for hospitality use cases (Source: themaynardgroup.com), allowing guests to ask a voice device connected to Avaya for hotel information or services. Additionally, Avaya networks (when they had their networking division) were used to carry IoT device traffic securely – e.g., at Boulder Falls Inn, the Avaya Wi-Fi and network supported the electronic door locking system and security cameras, enabling staff to monitor lock batteries and even remotely open doors via their Avaya interface (Source: pvu.thebluebook.com)(Source: pvu.thebluebook.com). This showcases how Avaya’s ecosystem approach can incorporate safety and security systems into the communication network.

In summary, Avaya doesn’t operate in isolation in a hotel: it’s an integrator of technologies. Hotels benefit immensely from this because it means their various systems “talk” to each other. A guest’s request flows from the phone system to the service delivery system without requiring duplicate data entry or human go-betweens. As Lowell Beebe-Center of Moxy Hotels noted, “the open API scope and expanded integration with a plethora of hospitality vendors [in Avaya’s platform] have allowed us to have a solution we can expand and enhance as we add to our guest experiences in the future.” (Source: tmcnet.com) This future-ready flexibility is a major reason hotels choose Avaya over more closed systems. By integrating communications with PMS, CRM, POS, and IoT, Avaya helps hotels unify their technology stack, resulting in better information flow, reduced errors, and ultimately a smoother experience for both guests and employees.

Real-World Case Studies of Avaya in Hotels

Avaya’s impact on hospitality is best illustrated through real hotel deployments. Here are several case studies and use cases from recent years:

• The Old Mill Toronto (Canada) – Upgrading Legacy PBX to Avaya: The Old Mill is a historic luxury hotel and spa in Toronto that in 2022 decided its aging PBX was no longer cutting it (Source: uctoday.com). They chose Avaya IP Office to modernize communications, valuing its cloud-capable, scalable architecture. The migration was smooth since Avaya IP Office integrated with the hotel’s existing property management and accounting software out-of-the-box (Source: uctoday.com). During rollout, IP Office’s support for analog lines allowed The Old Mill to keep some old phones temporarily, migrating in stages without service disruption (Source: uctoday.com). After going live, the hotel saw immediate improvements: IT admin became easier (via the web management and one-click user moves) (Source: uctoday.com), maintenance costs dropped (no more hunting through “a bank of wires” for troubleshooting) (Source: uctoday.com), and staff adopted new features enthusiastically. The front desk loved the SoftConsole with presence which gave them complete visibility of who is available before transferring a call (Source: uctoday.com). Hotel employees quickly embraced features like Visual Voice (visual voicemail) and voicemail-to-email, which saved time especially for offsite staff dealing with messages (Source: uctoday.com). The sales team benefited from mobile twinning, ensuring they didn’t miss calls when out meeting clients (Source: uctoday.com). Overall, The Old Mill achieved a more agile and responsive communication environment, and even reduced ongoing support costs since many changes could be done in-house on the Avaya system (Source: uctoday.com). The success led them to eventually replace every remaining analog phone with Avaya digital/IP phones to fully leverage IP Office’s capabilities (Source: uctoday.com). This case shows how a medium-sized boutique hotel transformed operations by swapping a legacy PBX for Avaya’s modern UC platform.

• Moxy Hotels (Global/Marriott) – New Tech-Forward Brand using Avaya: Moxy, Marriott’s trendy select-service brand aimed at Millennial travelers, faced rapid expansion and needed a communications solution to match its growth and tech-savvy image (Source: hotelmanagement.net). In 2019, Moxy chose Avaya IX Workplace (Avaya’s UC solution) across its new hotels, working with an Avaya partner (Tele-Automation) to implement it (Source: hotelmanagement.net). The goals were a cost-effective, reliable system with open APIs to integrate with multiple hospitality apps as they continuously add new guest experience features (Source: hotelmanagement.net). Avaya met these needs: “To ensure we give guests the finest experience, we needed a reliable, feature-rich solution at a competitive price point,” said Moxy’s Director of Operations, noting Avaya delivered on features and responsiveness (Source: hotelmanagement.net). With Avaya, Moxy Hotels gained a full range of robust communication options for staff and guests, including advanced IP phones for staff with personalized interfaces (Source: hotelmanagement.net). They significantly increased efficiency and effectiveness of operations by enabling seamless front- and back-office communications, including mobile users, for greater guest interaction (Source: hotelmanagement.net). One critical capability was disaster recovery and off-site administration – Avaya IX Workplace allowed Moxy to have redundancy and route calls over alternate paths, avoiding downtime and extra call routing costs between staff (Source: hotelmanagement.net). Moxy also valued that Avaya’s platform is highly flexible and scalable for future growth (Source: hotelmanagement.net). New integrations or features can be added via Avaya’s open interfaces without forklift upgrades. In effect, Avaya became part of Moxy’s innovative brand offering, supporting things like mobile key support calls, guest requests via chat, etc., consistent with Moxy’s “digitally enabled” ethos. This case underscores Avaya’s appeal to modern hotel brands that demand agility and integration.

• Accor Group (Global) – Large-Scale Contact Centers and Reliability: Accor, one of the world’s largest hotel operators (Fairmont, Sofitel, Novotel, etc.), relies on Avaya for its communications in central reservations and guest contact centers. In a 2019 industry release, Accor’s Global Call Center IT Manager praised Avaya: “We have been an Avaya customer for 20 years… Avaya’s contact center solution is rock solid with a history of proven reliability and support” (Source: tourismbreakingnews.ae). For Accor, Avaya’s solutions help handle millions of customer interactions across 100+ countries, ensuring that guests experience consistently high service quality when they call any of Accor’s reservation lines. The reliability and scalability are crucial – any downtime could cost thousands in lost bookings. By continuing to look to Avaya for growth, Accor indicates trust that Avaya will evolve with their needs (e.g., adding digital channels and AI). This example shows Avaya’s strength in serving global hospitality enterprises, where robust performance, multi-language/multi-site capabilities, and vendor support are paramount.

• TIME Hotels (UAE) – Automation and Cost Savings: TIME Hotels, a regional hospitality chain in the Middle East, adopted Avaya to revamp communications in its resorts. They deployed an Avaya contact center and UC platform that allowed them to automate many guest service functions and unify staff communications (Source: tourismbreakingnews.ae). According to TIME’s CEO, every year they strive to improve guest service while controlling costs – Avaya helped achieve both. Specifically, TIME Hotels used Avaya to enable automated wake-up calls, booking confirmation calls, and “quick info” requests for hotel services and local attractions (Source: hozpitalityplus.com)(Source: tourismbreakingnews.ae). Instead of staff manually dialing guests or printing brochures, the system could handle routine interactions or send info via IVR/text. By doing so, TIME Hotels reported up to 30% reduction in capital and operating expenses related to communications (Source: tourismbreakingnews.ae). At the same time, guest feedback on responsiveness improved because the new system ensured no request was overlooked – if a guest didn’t answer a wake-up call, it could alert front desk to follow up, for example. This case demonstrates how even a mid-sized hotel group can leverage Avaya to punch above its weight in service while seeing a tangible ROI through cost reduction.

• Pan Pacific Hotels Group (Asia-Pacific) – Unified Communications & Contact Center: Pan Pacific (owner/operator of Pan Pacific and PARKROYAL hotels across Asia and North America) undertook a major upgrade using Avaya to reduce costs and improve guest satisfaction (Source: static1.squarespace.com). They deployed Avaya Aura UC and contact center technology group-wide. The result was significant operational savings and service improvements. While detailed results weren’t in the snippet, it’s noted that Pan Pacific has been an Avaya customer since 2004 and extended Avaya to more properties after an initial success in Seattle (Source: static1.squarespace.com). We can infer benefits like lower telecom costs by using IP telephony across hotels, easier management from headquarters, and better guest service due to consistent systems. Pan Pacific’s case highlights Avaya’s ability to handle a multi-national hotel group deployment, integrating with different regional systems yet providing a unified standard for communications.

• Best Western Premier Boulder Falls Inn (USA) – End-to-End Avaya Solution: This 84-room boutique hotel in Oregon implemented a comprehensive Avaya solution including Avaya IP Office for telephony, Avaya WLAN 9100 for Wi-Fi, and Avaya networking switches (Source: pvu.thebluebook.com)(Source: pvu.thebluebook.com). The integrated approach paid off: the hotel achieved top-tier guest Wi-Fi ratings (as mentioned earlier) and used the Avaya network to support other subsystems securely (electronic locks, cameras) (Source: pvu.thebluebook.com). Staff collaboration was enhanced by something as simple as the installer pre-configuring everyone’s voicemail greetings – a small touch that reduced stress during the hotel opening (Source: pvu.thebluebook.com)(Source: pvu.thebluebook.com). The GM’s glowing endorsement of reliability and support attests to Avaya’s value in a smaller hotel setting as well (Source: pvu.thebluebook.com). This case is a reminder that Avaya isn’t just for huge resorts or chains; even independent hotels can benefit from an Avaya “one-stop-shop” communications and network solution for a turnkey, worry-free technology environment.

These case studies demonstrate the versatility of Avaya’s hospitality solutions across different scales and needs – from a single boutique inn to a global giant – and common themes emerge. Hotels using Avaya consistently report improved efficiency, better guest service (fewer missed calls, faster responses), and often direct cost savings or avoidance. Avaya’s focus on integration and flexibility also comes through: whether it’s Moxy leveraging APIs to integrate new features, or Old Mill integrating with existing software, or TIME automating services, Avaya adapts to each hotel’s ecosystem. In competitive evaluations, many hotels find Avaya gives a balance of rich functionality, dependability, and reasonable cost. As Moxy’s operations director summarized, “Avaya…helped us realize our business needs through features and solutions… [It] helped allow us to have a solution we can expand and enhance as we add to our guest experiences in the future.” (Source: tmcnet.com).

Competitive Landscape: Avaya vs. Cisco, Mitel, NEC, etc.

The hotel communications market has a few major players, each with their own strengths. Avaya, Mitel, Cisco, and NEC are frequently considered when hotels evaluate telephony and UC solutions, alongside specialized hospitality providers. Here’s how Avaya compares:

• Avaya vs. Mitel: Mitel is often seen as Avaya’s closest competitor in hospitality. In fact, industry professionals note that “Mitel pretty much runs the hotel game” in some regions, with Avaya as a strong second (Source: reddit.com)(Source: reddit.com). Mitel (a Canadian company) has a long legacy in hotel PBX systems and offers products like Mitel MiVoice Business that come with hospitality feature packs (e.g. built-in wake-up call management, voicemail for guests, room status codes). Mitel’s solutions are praised for handling analog guestroom phones cost-effectively – “They have a PBX dedicated to doing analog, it also integrates into the hotel system, and it’s also cheap,” as one technician put it (Source: reddit.com). This makes Mitel very popular for properties that want to maximize use of existing analog phones and minimize expense, especially limited-service hotels. Avaya, by contrast, often shines in full-service and luxury hotels where more advanced UC and contact center capabilities are needed in addition to basic dial tone. Avaya and Mitel both integrate with PMS and support hospitality features, but Avaya’s edge is often its broader portfolio (contact center, networking, AI integrations) and its large-system scalability. Mitel’s edge can be lower cost for smaller installs and a focused analog solution. In practice, many hotel chains have both: for example, IHG, Hilton, and Marriott properties often shortlist both Avaya and Mitel for their communications needs (Source: reddit.com). Mitel historically dominated certain geographies (Canada, UK, parts of US), while Avaya has an impressive install base in luxury chains and large convention hotels worldwide (Source: themaynardgroup.com). Notably, Avaya claims relationships with 9 out of 10 of the world’s luxury hotel groups (Source: globenewswire.com) – indicating that high-end brands (which demand cutting-edge guest experience tech) gravitate to Avaya’s offerings, whereas Mitel might have more footprint in mid-scale franchises by virtue of cost. Both companies now offer cloud options too (Mitel has cloud PBX and UCaaS solutions, and as of a Synergy Research study had more cloud subscribers than Avaya and Cisco combined, largely due to serving many small businesses). For a hotel deciding between them, the choice may come down to specific needs: If the priority is a modern, integrated guest experience with advanced applications, Avaya often gets the nod (Source: themaynardgroup.com)(Source: rcrwireless.com). If the goal is basic reliable telephony for hundreds of rooms at lowest cost, Mitel might win on price. However, feature-by-feature, Avaya and Mitel have parity on core hospitality functions (PBX, voicemail, PMS link). Many industry experts consider them the top two in hospitality communications and often a matter of preference or existing relationships (Source: reddit.com).

• Avaya vs. Cisco: Cisco is a powerhouse in networking and enterprise telephony, but in pure hotel communications it has historically been less dominant than Avaya or Mitel. Cisco’s flagship Unified Communications Manager (CUCM) and related collaboration tools (Jabber, Webex) are certainly used in hospitality, especially in large integrated resorts or casinos that also use Cisco for network infrastructure. Cisco’s advantages include strong data networking gear (switches, Wi-Fi) that hotels often deploy, and the convenience of end-to-end network+voice solutions from one vendor. Some hotels with heavy Cisco infrastructure lean toward extending Cisco to voice for compatibility. Cisco’s UC solutions are highly scalable and secure, and Cisco has a cloud calling platform (Webex Calling/BroadWorks) that can serve hotels in a hosted model. That said, hospitality-specific features are not Cisco’s specialty – features like hotel check-in/check-out integration, auto wake-up, room phone restrictions, etc., typically require third-party middleware when using Cisco, whereas Avaya and Mitel often have those built-in or readily available via vendor partnerships. Cisco shines in high-end conferencing, video collaboration, and network management – for instance, a conference center hotel might use Cisco video endpoints or contact center for event bookings. But for daily guestroom telephony and staff comms, Cisco is sometimes seen as more expensive without adding hospitality-specific value. As one industry comment noted from experience, “Mitel > Avaya > Cisco” in terms of hotel usage prevalence, suggesting Cisco comes after the other two in many hotel scenarios (Source: reddit.com). Cisco does offer contact center solutions (UCCX/UCCE and now Webex Contact Center) that compete with Avaya, and some hotels use them for centralized reservation centers especially if they have Cisco voice already in corporate offices. Cisco’s ecosystem also includes Meraki (for cloud-managed network/Wi-Fi) which is popular in hotels and can integrate with IoT (door locks, etc.) – but Avaya’s equivalent capabilities are achieved via its open integrations and partnerships. In summary, Cisco can absolutely meet a hotel’s communication needs and is a strong competitor particularly in new-build hotels that adopt Cisco IP phones and networking together, but it may require more customization for hospitality features. Many hotels also report that Cisco solutions can be relatively complex to program and maintain unless you have Cisco-certified IT staff, whereas Avaya/Mitel are more tailor-made for hotel admin staff or telecom vendors to manage. Cost is another factor: Cisco’s per-user or per-device licensing can be pricey; Avaya often wins bids by being more cost-competitive for similar functionality (Source: tourismbreakingnews.ae). That said, Cisco’s name and quality carry weight – a large chain might choose Cisco for a flagship property expecting rock-solid performance and integration with their corporate IT systems.

• Avaya vs. NEC: NEC is a notable player particularly in economy and mid-scale hotels and in the Asia-Pacific region. NEC PBX systems (e.g., NEAX, SV9100/SV9300 series) were traditionally very popular in hospitality for their reliability and robust feature set. NEC provides specialized hotel software (like a built-in PMS interface module, voicemail, etc.) and is known for competitive pricing in certain markets. In recent years, however, NEC has shifted focus; there are reports that NEC is winding down some on-premises PBX offerings as it transitions to cloud services (Source: reddit.com). Nonetheless, many smaller hotels still use NEC systems, and NEC’s UNIVERGE series can integrate with hotel apps similarly. Avaya typically competes with NEC in markets like Japan, Southeast Asia, and with smaller U.S. hotels. One tech forum comparison noted “NEC is better for hospitality… Avaya is better for unified messaging and apps”, implying that for a straightforward hotel phone system NEC could be a solid choice, whereas Avaya provides more advanced UC features if needed (Source: tek-tips.com). NEC’s strength lies in simplicity and cost – for a limited-service hotel that needs 50 room phones and a few admin lines, an NEC IP-PBX might be cheaper and easier than a full Avaya Aura setup. However, Avaya can serve those small scenarios too (with IP Office) and then scale up much further if needed. Also, Avaya has a larger global support network; NEC’s presence is strong in some countries but not as uniform globally for hospitality. For hotels looking at future growth or integration into enterprise systems, Avaya might appear more future-proof. As NEC has fewer cloud options (until recently) and smaller market share outside APAC, Avaya often wins in competitive bids against NEC for new projects that emphasize modern capabilities.

• Specialized Hospitality Systems vs. Avaya: Apart from these big brands, there are niche hospitality telephony providers like PhoneSuite, 3CX (with a hotel module), Yeastar, and others (Source: thehotelgm.com)(Source: thehotelgm.com). These are often very cost-effective for small hotels or motels – for example, PhoneSuite offers hosted PBX services specifically for hotels with tight PMS integration and costs around $20/room/month (Source: thehotelgm.com)(Source: thehotelgm.com). Some small properties opt for such solutions or even consumer-grade VoIP systems with analog adapters. However, for larger or more upscale properties, these options might lack the depth and reliability of Avaya. Avaya’s advantage over these newcomers is proven scale, feature richness, and enterprise-grade support. A boutique hotel with 50 rooms might consider a cloud PBX startup to save money, but a 500-room resort usually sticks with a trusted vendor like Avaya or Mitel. That said, cloud communications (from providers like RingCentral, Nextiva, etc.) are creeping into hospitality, and Avaya responded by partnering (Avaya Cloud Office) and by emphasizing how its solutions can be delivered as a service too.

In essence, Avaya’s competitive position in hospitality remains strong, especially in the mid-to-upper tier segments of the market. It brings a combination of hotel-specific experience (decades of R&D on hotel features and thousands of hotel installs) and a forward-looking innovation pipeline (AI, cloud, etc.). Competitors like Mitel closely rival Avaya on core hospitality functionality and sometimes on price; Cisco rivals on technology breadth and brand; NEC on cost for basics. But Avaya’s differentiators include its integrated contact center prowess, its global support and channel partners in hospitality, and the flexibility of deployment (on-prem, hybrid, cloud) that appeals to hotels wary of rip-and-replace. Avaya also benefits from a huge existing installed base – many hotels upgrading will already be familiar with Avaya (or Nortel, whose hospitality PBX business Avaya acquired in 2009), giving Avaya a leg up in renewal decisions.

Industry experts often advise hotels to evaluate not just feature checklists, but also the roadmap and stability of the vendor. Avaya has had well-publicized financial ups and downs (bankruptcies in 2017 and 2023) (Source: nextiva.com), which competitors sometimes use against it. However, Avaya’s 2023 reorganization sharpened its focus on enterprise (including hospitality) solutions and cloud migration. The company’s message of enabling “innovation without disruption” (Source: avaya.com) is tailored to reassure hotels that they can keep their trusted Avaya systems and still evolve with trends. Mitel, conversely, has also undergone changes (it was taken private and also focusing on core UC). Cisco continues to invest in collaboration and could push more into hospitality via IoT and 5G offerings. For a hotel IT/communications professional, staying informed on these vendors’ hospitality strategies is key. But as of mid-2025, Avaya remains a top choice for hotels looking for a feature-rich, integrative, and scalable communications solution – as evidenced by its ongoing use in marquee properties and the fact that “nine of ten luxury hotel brands rely on Avaya solutions” (Source: themaynardgroup.com).

Technical Considerations and Infrastructure Requirements

Implementing Avaya solutions in a hotel environment comes with specific technical considerations. Hotels must carefully plan their infrastructure – network, hardware, integrations – to ensure a successful deployment. Key considerations include:

1. Network Infrastructure (LAN/WAN): Since Avaya’s modern systems are IP-based, a robust network is essential. Hotels need to have adequate wired and wireless LAN infrastructure with QoS (Quality of Service) to prioritize voice traffic. If Avaya IP phones are used in rooms, each room needs an Ethernet port (or a way to share the port used by IPTV or another device) unless phones operate via Wi-Fi. In many older hotels, running new CAT5/6 cabling to every room is expensive; Avaya’s ability to work with analog adapters or support digital phones provides a workaround, letting hotels reuse existing telephone wiring (at least initially) (Source: uctoday.com). Some hotels deploy Avaya Media Gateways or IP Office analog modules in each wiring closet, converting IP to analog so that room phones don’t need replacement en masse. Over time, they might upgrade to IP phones as renovations allow – as The Old Mill did, staggering migration of analog to digital phones using Avaya IP Office’s hybrid support (Source: uctoday.com).

For backend connectivity, if the hotel chooses a cloud or hosted Avaya model, reliable internet or MPLS links with failover are critical. Voice in the cloud means any internet outage could cut off phones, so many hotels opting for cloud comms invest in redundant ISPs, SD-WAN, or LTE backup links. Avaya systems support SIP trunks for voice lines, which often run over the internet, making QoS and redundancy important on WAN links too.

2. Server and Hardware Deployment: Avaya solutions can be delivered as appliances, virtualized software, or pure cloud services. A hotel going on-premises will need to provision server hardware (or virtual machines) for components like Avaya Communication Manager (or IP Office Server Edition), Session Manager, Messaging (voicemail), and possibly Breeze or AES (for integrations). These might run on VMware or dedicated Avaya-provided appliances. Ensuring adequate server performance and proper configuration (CPU, memory, storage for recordings/voicemails) is part of planning. Additionally, survivability is often needed: for example, a resort with multiple buildings might place a survivable gateway in each, so that if the main controller goes down or network to it is lost, local calls (including 911) still work. Avaya offers options like Survivable Remote Servers/Gateways that hotels can deploy for resilience. Some hotels might use a geo-redundant Avaya setup where a backup server in another location can take over if the primary fails, which is common for chains with centralized systems supporting multiple hotels.

3. Analog Devices and Emergency Phones: Hotels typically have a large number of analog devices: not just room phones (if not yet IP) but also fax lines, fire alarm panels, elevator phones, pool emergency phones, etc. Avaya systems can support analog devices via analog line cards or gateways (like the Avaya G450 Media Gateway or IP Office analog 16 modules). It’s vital to inventory all analog needs and ensure the Avaya solution design includes enough analog ports. For example, if a hotel has 300 analog room phones and 20 analog endpoints for admin/emergency, the Avaya configuration must accommodate those (through a combination of media modules). Alternatively, some hotels use SIP-based ATA (analog terminal adapters) for small counts, but those must be compatible and manageable. Fax lines might need T.38 support via Avaya if going SIP, etc. This planning ensures no device is left unsupported.

Emergency calling compliance (e.g., Kari’s Law and RAY BAUM’s Act in the U.S.) is a critical technical consideration. Avaya systems have features to comply – Kari’s Law requires no prefix (9) to dial 911 and that the system can provide a notification of 911 calls to security; RAY BAUM’s Act requires dispatchable location information for 911 calls. Avaya Communication Manager and IP Office can be configured to allow direct 911 and to include location info (usually via ELINs or integration with an E911 service) (Source: support.avaya.com)(Source: documentation.avaya.com). For instance, Avaya can work with solutions like Intrado Emergency Gateway or RedSky, which have been certified with Avaya Aura to provide precise location tracking of IP extensions on large campuses (Source: intrado.com). Hotels, especially multi-story ones, should implement these to ensure a 911 call from a room gives responders the right room number and floor. The technical team must set up dial plans accordingly and test 911 thoroughly (e.g., using Avaya’s E911 simulation tools or test numbers) (Source: support.avaya.com). Many hotels underwent upgrades for these laws by the 2020–2021 deadlines; any new Avaya installation needs to account for that from day one.

4. Integration and Middleware Setup: As discussed in the integration section, technical setup often involves deploying middleware or configuring APIs. For PMS integration, hotels might need to install an Avaya PMS interface software or a third-party server (like a DuVoice DV2000 or TigerTMS iLink) that sits between the PBX and PMS. This requires network connectivity and protocol configuration (TCP/IP or serial links, depending on PMS). The tech team should coordinate with the PMS vendor on testing things like guest name change propagation, room move handling, and checkout processes between the systems. Similarly, if using a voice mail system for guests with integrations (like mailbox auto-creation at check-in), that needs configuration – though often Avaya Aura Messaging or IP Office Voicemail Pro have hospitality modes for this.

For contact center functions (like central reservations), integration with CRM or booking systems may require web services or database connections. Avaya AES (Application Enablement Services) server might be deployed to provide CTI linkage to CRM. Technical staff must ensure APIs are properly authenticated and that data flows securely (with encryption if required by GDPR/PCI, etc.). In short, integration testing is a big part of an Avaya hotel deployment, often involving multiple vendors (Avaya, PMS vendor, integration middleware vendor, etc.). Allocating sufficient time for this in the project plan is crucial.

5. Endpoint Devices and User Equipment: Hotels must decide on the types of endpoints (phones) to use with Avaya. Options range from simple single-line sets, to more feature-rich multi-line sets for staff, to the Avaya Vantage touchscreen devices for guest rooms or suites. Avaya offers specific hospitality phone models (with features like no dial pad for room phones if dialing is done via service keys, or custom faceplates). The technical consideration is ensuring PoE (Power over Ethernet) availability for IP phones (if used) – switch capacity, UPS backups for those switches to keep phones alive during power outages (for emergency calling), and possibly battery backup units for analog phones connected to gateways. For Wi-Fi phones or cordless sets (DECT), coverage and interference must be planned (often the Wi-Fi plan covers it if using Wi-Fi phones; for DECT, base stations must be placed appropriately). The choice of analog vs IP for rooms can be strategic: analog phones are cheap and powered over the line (so they work in power outages if the PBX is on UPS), but they lack advanced features; IP phones have more features and messaging but each needs power and network. Many hotels still choose analog sets in rooms for cost and reliability, but high-end hotels might put IP or smart devices to offer more services. Avaya supports both, but the infrastructure must accommodate the choice (lots of analog line cards for analog, or lots of PoE ports for IP). Also consider guest-facing UI: if using Vantage or softphone apps on tablets in rooms, they should be locked down to only allowed functions and branded interface – Avaya Breeze and customizable UIs handle that, but it’s a development effort to design the interface with the hotel’s branding and service menus (Source: rcrwireless.com). Avaya or its partners often assist with creating these custom interfaces for the Intelligent Room Experience.

6. Security (Network and Voice): From a technical perspective, securing the Avaya environment involves multiple layers. The voice network should be segmented (e.g., voice VLANs) to keep it separate from public guest internet traffic. Avaya Session Border Controllers (SBCs) are recommended if the hotel is using SIP trunks or connecting remote workers; an SBC provides VoIP firewalling, encryption (TLS/SRTP) and guards against toll fraud. The Avaya system itself should be kept up-to-date with patches (hotels need maintenance contracts or access to Avaya support for this). Default passwords on admin accounts and phone SIP credentials must be changed to prevent hacking. If phones are in publicly accessible areas (lobbies, rooms), physical security is a concern – but most guest phones aren’t attractive targets for theft, whereas admin phones might have sensitive speed dials. Avaya supports encryption of calls and signaling, which hotels can enable especially on staff conversations or calls carrying sensitive info (credit card bookings, etc.) (Source: avaya.com). For compliance like PCI DSS, if agents are taking credit card numbers over calls, Avaya’s contact center can integrate with secure payment IVRs (preventing the agent from hearing the number) (Source: nextiva.com). Technical teams should also be aware of GDPR data handling if applicable (e.g., recorded calls are personal data) – Avaya provides tools to encrypt and restrict access to such data (Source: cxtoday.com)(Source: cxtoday.com).

7. Scalability and Future-Proofing: Hotels should consider not just current requirements but future ones. Technically, Avaya systems can scale from a small single-site to a large multi-site network of PBXs. If a hotel chain plans to centralize multiple properties on one Avaya system, they must ensure adequate bandwidth between sites and possibly a dial plan that differentiates extensions by property. Avaya’s cluster approach (for example, an Avaya Aura network with multiple Communication Managers linked via SIP) can allow extension dialing across hotels and centralized management. This is attractive for chains wanting consistency. Planning for such scalability (even if starting with one hotel) might influence the choice of Avaya platform – e.g., using Avaya Aura instead of just IP Office if many hotels will be networked together. Additionally, with technology evolving, the infrastructure should support adding new features like AI and IoT. Avaya’s Infinity platform and Breeze mean the hotel might eventually run microservices or AI bots on top of the comms platform. Ensuring the servers have capacity and the network can handle any additional data (like video chat or IoT sensor data) is wise.

8. Vendor Support and Training: A technical yet practical consideration is who will maintain the system. Avaya has a wide partner network; typically a certified Avaya business partner will install and support the hotel’s solution. Hotels need to arrange for 24/7 support if desired (since issues can happen at any time). This might involve maintenance contracts with SLAs. The IT or telephony staff at the hotel should also receive training on the Avaya administration – using tools like Avaya Site Administration or IP Office Manager – so they can handle day-to-day tasks. Avaya’s interfaces are fairly user-friendly, but training ensures the hotel can utilize features fully (like setting up call flows, analyzing reports, etc.).

In summary, infrastructure readiness (network, power), integration setup, device planning, and security are the pillars of a successful Avaya implementation in hospitality. The technology must be aligned with the hotel’s operational processes from the start. When done right, as seen in the cases above, an Avaya-powered infrastructure becomes a stable backbone that the hotel can rely on for years. Hotels often keep PBX systems for a decade or more, so designing with longevity and scalability in mind is crucial – something Avaya partners emphasize during deployment. By carefully addressing these technical considerations, hotels set themselves up to reap the benefits of Avaya’s technology without unwelcome surprises post-cutover.

ROI Potential and Financial Impact for Hotels

Investing in communications technology is a significant decision for hotels, and they naturally seek a return on that investment. Avaya solutions, when properly leveraged, can yield both hard financial returns (cost savings, increased revenue) and soft returns (improved guest satisfaction leading to loyalty). Here are ways Avaya impacts a hotel’s bottom line and ROI considerations:

1. Operational Cost Savings: One of the most direct financial benefits of modernizing to an Avaya system is the reduction of various operational costs:

• Lower Maintenance and Support Costs: Aging PBX systems often come with high maintenance fees (if the vendor still supports them) or expensive on-call technician costs when something breaks. By upgrading to Avaya, hotels often eliminate those unknown repair costs in favor of a predictable support contract or warranty. The Old Mill case showed that after moving to Avaya, they reduced maintenance expenses; previously a problem meant an engineer manually sorting through wires, but now issues are resolved via software, often remotely (Source: uctoday.com). Furthermore, Avaya’s reliability means fewer emergency fixes – Boulder Falls Inn mentioned Avaya was their most reliable system on property, implicitly saving the cost and disruption of outages (Source: pvu.thebluebook.com).

• Consolidation of Services: Avaya solutions can consolidate multiple functions (voice, conferencing, voicemail, call center) that might otherwise require separate systems or vendors. For example, a hotel might cancel a third-party voicemail service or an outsourced wake-up call service once Avaya provides those features in-house. TIME Hotels, by using Avaya to automate wake-up calls and reminders, likely saved on labor or any fees they previously had for those services (Source: tourismbreakingnews.ae). They reported up to a 30% reduction in CapEx and OpEx – part of that is attributed to not needing separate systems or expensive legacy equipment anymore (Source: tourismbreakingnews.ae).

• Telecom Expense Reduction: Modern Avaya IP systems enable use of SIP trunking, which is often cheaper than traditional phone lines. Hotels can negotiate better calling rates or use least-cost routing for outbound calls, cutting down phone bills. Also, by integrating calls over the data network (for multi-property groups, calls between sites can be routed as internal VoIP calls at no charge). Over time, these savings accumulate. Some hotels also save by eliminating analog lines (once used for each guestroom phone for 911 direct) by using centralized trunks with E911 solutions – though careful compliance is needed. Avaya’s reporting can even help identify misuse or toll fraud quickly, preventing bill shock.

• Efficiency Gains (Labor Savings): Avaya solutions can streamline staff workflows, effectively doing more with the same number of people, which is a labor cost avoidance. For instance, with unified messaging, a staff member might handle all communications in one interface faster, saving perhaps 1 hour of work daily, which can translate to labor cost savings over a year. Automation of routine tasks (like batch calling all guests for an emergency announcement or sending check-out reminders) saves staff manual calling time. In reservation centers, skills-based routing and self-service IVR (provided by Avaya) can reduce the number of agents needed to handle the call volume by increasing first-contact resolution and offloading common inquiries to automation (Source: avaya.com). These efficiency improvements are a significant ROI component – hotels can often justify the system upgrade by the FTE (full-time equivalent) hours saved.

• IT Productivity: Simplifying administration (as Avaya does with centralized management tools) reduces the time IT or engineering staff spend on moves/adds/changes and troubleshooting. That staff time can be refocused on guest-impact projects or simply reduces the need for external tech support. It’s hard to directly quantify, but consider a hotel that used to pay for a technician to reprogram phones for every large event and now the in-house team does it in minutes – those contractor fees are saved.

2. Revenue Enhancement: While cost savings are one side of ROI, Avaya can also help increase revenue or protect existing revenue streams:

• Improved Guest Satisfaction -> Repeat Business: Avaya technology’s biggest impact might be indirectly through better guest satisfaction. As the Avaya hospitality survey highlighted, “increased customer satisfaction [drives] repeat bookings” (Source: globenewswire.com). If, for example, implementing Avaya contact center reduces reservation hold times and abandonment, the hotel secures more bookings that might have been lost. Or a guest who had a quick response to a room service request (thanks to Avaya integration speeding it up) may leave a positive review and return to the hotel on their next trip instead of trying a competitor. It’s well known in hospitality that loyalty and lifetime value of a guest are tied to their service experiences. “The guest experience is more important than price” for loyalty (Source: globenewswire.com) – by enhancing experience via communications (personalized and prompt service), Avaya helps hotels retain customers and capture revenue that repeat guests and referrals bring. This effect can be substantial but requires measuring guest satisfaction scores (e.g., NPS, online reviews) pre- and post-Avaya implementation to estimate.

• New Services and Upsells: Avaya’s advanced capabilities create opportunities for incremental revenue. For instance, Avaya’s Intelligent Room Experience enables promotions to be sent to guests (like spa discounts or late check-out offers) directly on the in-room device or via messaging (Source: themaynardgroup.com)(Source: themaynardgroup.com). Real-time, personalized offers can increase take-up of hotel services (restaurant, spa, etc.), boosting ancillary revenue. Avaya marketing materials note hotels can use the platform to do “real-time revenue generating promotions” and increase sales of in-room dining, retail, or upgrades (Source: themaynardgroup.com). If a guest uses the Avaya Vantage device to order an in-room bottle of wine after seeing a promotion, that’s added revenue traceable to the system’s capabilities. Similarly, Avaya’s integration with CRM can flag high-value guests so staff can offer them paid upgrades (e.g., a suite or a package) proactively during interactions. Over a year, upsell conversions attributed to better data and communication can make a noticeable revenue difference.

• Reservations and Direct Booking Conversion: A smooth communication experience in reservations can encourage guests to book direct (via the hotel’s call center or website) rather than through third-party channels that charge commission (like OTAs). For example, if a guest calls the hotel to inquire (instead of using an OTA) and the call is promptly answered by a knowledgeable agent (with info popped via Avaya integration), the guest might finalize the booking directly. Every booking converted from OTA to direct saves the hotel perhaps 15-20% commission – that’s real money. Avaya contact center solutions, by improving call handling and providing rich customer context, help conversion rates. Travel Outlook, in offering omnichannel services via an Avaya-powered system, markets that their tech + agents “boost reservations and increase revenue” for hotels (Source: insights.ehotelier.com). This implies hotels using such systems see improved reservation sales performance, contributing to ROI through higher revenue capture.

• Reduced Lost Business: On a related note, a poor communications system can lose business – e.g., calls not answered lead a potential customer to call another hotel. By eliminating those failures (through sufficient lines, intelligent routing, callback options, etc.), Avaya ensures hotels don’t leave money on the table. The ROI can be measured by tracking abandoned call rates and recovered bookings.

3. Capital vs Operational Expense Considerations: The financial impact also depends on how the hotel acquires the solution:

• On-Premises Purchase (CapEx): Here, the hotel outlays capital for the equipment and licenses upfront. Avaya often positions this as a long-term asset with lower total cost of ownership over, say, a 7-10 year lifespan, compared to paying monthly fees indefinitely. The ROI in CapEx model comes after the payback period (could be 2-3 years after which savings and extra revenue are pure benefit). Avaya upgrades can sometimes be financed or leased as well, spreading cost. Some hotels justify CapEx upgrades by comparing maintenance costs of the old system + revenue lost (due to outdated capabilities) vs the one-time investment for new tech plus its benefits. The TIME Hotels statement that Avaya helped reduce CapEx by 30% (Source: tourismbreakingnews.ae) suggests that by implementing one integrated Avaya platform, they might have avoided having multiple separate systems (each requiring its own CapEx) – one platform to do voice, contact center, etc., is more cost-efficient than discrete investments.

• Cloud Subscription (OpEx): Avaya’s OneCloud subscription or Avaya Cloud Office shifts costs to operational budgets – monthly per user/room fees. This model can be attractive to avoid large upfront costs and to scale costs with occupancy or usage. ROI in an OpEx model might be seen in immediate positive cash flow if the monthly cost is offset by monthly savings (for example, if a hotel eliminates $5,000 of phone line costs and third-party services per month and replaces with an Avaya cloud subscription of $3,000 per month, they net-save $2,000 monthly). However, hotels must analyze long-term costs; sometimes on-prem is cheaper over a long period, whereas cloud offers agility. Avaya provides both options; indeed, their strategy is to let customers “access cloud innovation at their own pace” and only pay for what’s needed (Source: avaya.com). From a financial perspective, cloud models turn a big CapEx that depreciates into a steady expense – which some hotel owners prefer if they can tie it to occupancy (some cloud vendors allow seasonal scaling of licenses, etc., though not sure Avaya Cloud Office does). ROI calcs in the cloud case revolve around metrics like cost per occupied room per day for communications vs increase in ADR or guest satisfaction that communication improvements bring.

4. ROI Timeline and Intangibles: Many hotels see ROI on communications upgrades in under 2 years when combining cost savings and even modest revenue uptick. For example, an Avaya case study (not cited above) might show a hotel saving $X in trunk costs and $Y in productivity annually, which against the system cost gives 18-month payback. Avaya’s own survey said with improved satisfaction and efficiency, hotels are “well positioned to see a rapid ROI and low total cost of ownership” on their investments (Source: globenewswire.com).

It’s also important to factor intangible benefits: improved guest safety (from reliable 911 and communication during emergencies) could avoid lawsuits or liability costs – hard to quantify but significant. Data security compliance (with Avaya’s tools to help GDPR/PCI) avoids fines. Employee satisfaction may improve too with better tools (reducing turnover costs). These don’t directly show on an ROI spreadsheet but do matter financially in the big picture.

5. Pricing Transparency and Negotiation: Avaya solutions’ cost varies widely by scope and size. Enterprise deals might be custom priced. However, for context, typical costs might include: IP phones ($100-$400 each depending on model), per-user license for UC (maybe a few hundred dollars one-time or a monthly fee of $10-$20 in a subscription), contact center agent licenses ($1000+ one-time or ~$100/month per agent in CCaaS), plus servers, gateways, and implementation services. A mid-size hotel might invest tens of thousands in a system, while a large resort or chain central solution could be hundreds of thousands or more. It’s common that Avaya or partners will structure deals to show ROI – e.g., offering financing where monthly payments are offset by monthly savings, making it “net zero” cost increase. Avaya also sometimes publishes case studies with ROI figures; for instance, earlier we noted TIME Hotels cut total expenses by 30% with Avaya (Source: tourismbreakingnews.ae), and Pan Pacific likely saw significant cost reductions with centralized UC.

6. Longevity and Future ROI: Hotels tend to keep systems for long, as mentioned. A well-chosen Avaya system can continue delivering returns well beyond initial payback, especially if software updates keep it current. The ability to add new revenue-generating features (like AI concierge or new integrations) without replacing the core system extends ROI further. Avaya’s open platform means hotels can innovate (perhaps add a chatbot interface or integrate communications into a mobile app later) relatively inexpensively, leveraging the initial investment.

In conclusion, the ROI potential for Avaya in hotels is strong when all factors are considered. Hard savings like maintenance and telecom costs, plus soft gains like guest loyalty and staff efficiency, combine to justify the investment. Actual ROI will vary, but numerous hotel case studies – from TIME’s 30% cost drop (Source: tourismbreakingnews.ae) to operational improvements at Old Mill and revenue-centric benefits at others – illustrate that Avaya solutions tend to pay for themselves quickly and then contribute positively to financial performance. It’s key, of course, that hotels fully utilize the features (an underused system is wasted money). Thus, part of maximizing ROI is change management: training staff to use the new tools (so that, for example, sales actually uses mobile twinning to capture calls, or agents use CRM screen-pops to convert bookings). When utilized, Avaya can truly be seen not just as a cost center but as a business enabler that drives profitability in the hospitality context.

Deployment Models and Pricing Considerations

When it comes to acquiring and implementing Avaya solutions, hotels have several deployment models to choose from, and understanding the pricing and implementation models is crucial for budget planning. Here we outline common models and available pricing information:

1. On-Premises (Customer-Managed) Deployment: Traditionally, hotels purchased Avaya systems outright as capital equipment. In this model, the hotel buys the PBX (or UC server), phones, and licenses, then either self-hosts or uses a partner to maintain it. The cost structure includes an upfront purchase and installation fee, plus ongoing support contracts (typically ~10-15% of the system cost annually for software support and upgrades). For example, a 200-room hotel might purchase an Avaya IP Office system with 250 phone licenses, a couple of PRI/SIP trunk licenses, voicemail, and a few contact center agent licenses for, hypothetically, $50,000 – $100,000 upfront, depending on the scope. This would include perhaps a basic Avaya hospitality license bundle (which may enable hospitality features like check-in integration). Avaya IP Office historically had editions (Essential, Preferred) and add-ons; pricing per user could range widely based on features (from a couple hundred dollars per user upward). With Avaya Aura, pricing was often by capacity and features (costlier but more scalable).

One advantage of CapEx purchase is that after the initial investment, the ongoing costs are limited to support, and the system can be used for many years with only minor upgrades. Hotels also might capitalize this expense and depreciate it over time. Many hospitality IT budgets are used to this model. However, the challenge is the large upfront cost and the responsibility of maintaining hardware (ensuring servers don’t fail, etc.). Some hotels mitigate that by purchasing Avaya Redundancy or spare parts, which adds to upfront cost but can avoid future revenue loss due to downtime.

2. Managed/Hosted Private Cloud: Some hotels opt for a middle ground – they want an Avaya solution but don’t want to host it on-site. There are Avaya partners and hosting providers that offer Avaya in a private cloud or data center, essentially providing the system as a service but dedicated to the hotel. In this model, pricing might shift to a subscription or rental. For instance, a chain could have an Avaya Aura hosted by a partner, paying a monthly fee per hotel or per user. The pricing here might be per port or per user. It could be on the order of, say, $10-$20 per phone per month, depending on what’s included (this is an estimate aligning with similar offerings). The benefit is lower capital outlay and outsourced management, while the hotel still can get custom integrations (since it’s a private instance of Avaya). Some Avaya partners even provide Hospitality as a Service packages that bundle telephony, internet, and TV services into a per-room monthly rate. A hypothetical example: a partner might charge $5/room/month for basic voice service plus $2/user/month for staff UC features, etc. Over 5 years, that could rival the cost of on-prem, but it converts it to a predictable operating expense.

3. Avaya OneCloud Public/Multitenant Services: Avaya’s own cloud UC offerings, particularly Avaya Cloud Office (ACO), are another option. ACO is essentially Avaya-branded RingCentral and is a fully cloud phone system. Its pricing is published in tiers (often similar to RingCentral’s plans). As of recent data, ACO plans might start around $20–$30 per user per month for the base plan and go up for more feature-rich plans (including things like unlimited calling, advanced analytics, etc.). For a hotel, however, treating every room phone as a “user” on a full UCaaS plan at $20/month is usually not economical – 200 rooms would be $4,000/month just for room phones, which is far more than maintaining an on-prem system. The hospitality reality is that rooms often only require minimal phone functionality, so paying a full UCaaS user fee per room is hard to justify. Industry discussion notes that “it’s hard to get an owner to pay for a UCaaS seat for a room that only calls front desk or 911” (Source: reddit.com). Therefore, Avaya Cloud Office or similar might be more fitting for back-office staff and maybe a different solution (like analog gateways or a scaled-down analog solution) for rooms. Avaya doesn’t yet have a special hospitality pricing tier for room phones in ACO (as far as known), so pure public cloud adoption in full-service hotels has been limited.

For Avaya OneCloud CCaaS (Experience Platform), pricing is often per agent (concurrent or named) per month, plus usage (minutes, messages). Avaya hasn’t publicly listed those prices, but CCaaS generally might be in the range of $100-$150 per agent/month for enterprise-grade solutions. Hotels considering outsourcing their reservations contact center to Avaya’s cloud would weigh that against running their own. If a call center has 50 agents, $125/agent is $6,250/month, perhaps justified by eliminating hardware and adding flexibility. Some might find it high if they have stable call volumes and can manage on-prem cheaply. But the burstability (scale up/down) of CCaaS could be useful for seasonal demand in hospitality.

4. Hybrid Licensing and Subscription: Avaya has introduced subscription licensing even for on-prem software (Avaya Enterprise Cloud and Subscription offers). This means a hotel can deploy equipment on-prem but pay annually for software usage rather than owning it perpetually. This model can lower initial cost and ensure the hotel always has access to the latest software versions. Avaya’s subscription might bundle in support and upgrades. Pricing for subscription licenses is typically lower per year than buying outright (since outright might be, say, 1x cost and support 0.2x per year, whereas subscription might be 0.3x per year including support – just a conceptual example). Many enterprise Avaya customers have moved to subscription to get more flexibility. For hotels, this could ease refreshing technology since they’re not stuck with outdated licenses; they can scale license counts up or down yearly.

5. Implementation and Professional Services Costs: Aside from hardware/software, deployment costs can be significant. Avaya channel partners will charge for design, installation, training, and integration work. A complex integration (with PMS, CRM, custom IVRs, etc.) could involve many hours of professional services. These costs can be quoted as fixed or time-and-material. Some hotels mitigate this by using standard interfaces or having in-house capabilities. But as a rule of thumb, services could be 20-30% of the project cost for a new install. Some partners include a certain amount in the sale price. It’s wise to clarify if things like PMS integration plugin or custom prompts are included or extra.

6. Ongoing Costs (Support, Upgrades): With on-prem Avaya, hotels will likely sign up for Avaya Support Advantage or a partner support plan. This covers software patches, maybe some level of remote monitoring, etc. The cost is often a percentage of list price annually. Additionally, if the hotel keeps spare parts or redundancy, that’s an upfront cost but can save money by avoiding emergency calls. If the hotel forgoes support, they risk bigger costs if something fails and is out of warranty.

7. Pricing Comparisons: It’s helpful to contextualize Avaya’s pricing vs competitors. In hospitality RFPs, one might find:

• A Mitel proposal possibly coming in slightly lower for equivalent size, as Mitel often competed on price per port. For instance, if Avaya quoted $100k, Mitel might be $90k but might not include some advanced features or might have different licensing.

• Cisco proposals might be higher if including a lot of hardware upgrades (they might require all Cisco switches with POE, etc., which could balloon the cost). Cisco UC licensing per user can be comparable or a bit higher than Avaya’s. One anecdote from a partner: “Cisco had a slight edge with support costs, Avaya and Mitel tied on capabilities” (Source: krgroup.com), implying price differences weren’t huge in some cases.

• NEC or others could undercut both for basic analog solution in a small hotel.

However, value vs. price is a big consideration. Avaya’s ability to drive ROI (as earlier discussed) often justifies the price even if it’s not the lowest bid.

8. Example Implementation Models:

• Small boutique hotel (100 rooms, 20 staff phones): Could deploy Avaya IP Office appliance. Price ballpark: $30k hardware/licenses + $5k services. Alternatively, use Avaya Cloud Office for staff (20 users * $25 = $500/mo) and keep existing analog PBX for rooms – some are doing partial migrations like that. But maybe better to use one system: an on-prem IP Office might be cheaper over 5 years than $500/mo = $30k in 5 years for just staff phones and still needing something for rooms.

• Large resort (500 rooms, 100 admin phones, call center 20 agents): Likely Avaya Aura or multiple IP Office servers networked. Price could be $200k+, including redundancy and integration. Cloud CC for 20 agents might be ~$2k/month, which the hotel compares to owning an Avaya Elite contact center (maybe $50k one-time). If they expect changes or want latest AI features, maybe they choose cloud for contact center and on-prem for PBX, a hybrid to optimize cost and capability.

• Multi-property chain: Might consider a centralized Avaya Aura serving multiple hotels to get economies of scale. Price per site then drops when averaged (one big system vs many small). Avaya offers enterprise license agreements in such cases which can be cost-effective if standardized across properties.

9. Hidden Savings: A note on pricing: sometimes focusing solely on system price misses the bigger picture of total cost of ownership (TCO). Avaya tends to have lower power consumption (new IP phones are energy-efficient) and can run virtualized, which could save on server hardware if the hotel has virtual infrastructure. Avaya’s networking (if used) like fabric connect (until 2017 Avaya had its own switches) promised easier management which is a cost save. After Avaya’s networking sale to Extreme, those who still use Avaya-labeled switches might get support via Extreme Networks; new networks likely Cisco, HPE, etc.

10. Discounting and Negotiation: Avaya, especially when competing with Mitel or Cisco, often provides significant discounts off list prices to win deals (30-50% off list is not uncommon in enterprise deals). Hospitality being a key vertical, Avaya may have special bundles or promos for hotels (for instance, a free hospitality feature pack with a certain PBX purchase). Additionally, Avaya Capital might offer financing deals: e.g., 0% financing for 12 months, or lease-to-own over 3-5 years. These financing models can align with hotel budget cycles and make an upgrade feasible sooner.

In summary, pricing for Avaya in hospitality can range widely based on deployment mode. Hotels should evaluate the TCO over at least 5 years for each option (on-prem vs cloud vs hybrid) including upfront, recurring, and potential upgrade costs. Many find that Avaya’s solutions, while an investment, deliver value that justifies their cost. Getting quotes from Avaya and competitors and analyzing the included features and support is the best way to make an informed decision. And beyond pure numbers, hotels must consider which model gives them the flexibility and control they want – some will pay a premium to have control on-prem, others prefer outsourcing for peace of mind. Avaya uniquely can cater to both approaches, and that flexibility is part of its appeal in hospitality.

Security, Compliance, and Data Privacy in Hospitality Communications

Hotels handle a vast amount of sensitive information and operate under strict safety obligations. Therefore, any communication solution must meet high standards for security, legal compliance, and data privacy. Avaya’s solutions are designed with these concerns in mind, and here we outline how they address them:

1. Guest Data Privacy (GDPR and beyond): Hotels often collect personal data (guest names, phone numbers, credit card details during reservations, recorded calls for quality, etc.), and regulations like the EU’s GDPR require safeguarding this data. Avaya has taken steps to ensure its products help customers comply with privacy laws. According to Avaya’s compliance guidance, Avaya solutions are engineered with enhanced security and features to protect personal data (Source: cxtoday.com). For instance, Avaya’s systems can be configured to document what data they collect and provide mechanisms to control it (Source: cxtoday.com) – this might include logging and reports for personal data access, prompts to obtain consent from callers before recording information, etc. Avaya also supports data minimization and access controls: administrators can restrict which staff have access to sensitive data (like call recordings or detailed customer info), aligning with the GDPR principle of least privilege (Source: cxtoday.com). If a guest requests their data under GDPR (right of access or right to be forgotten), Avaya’s tools (with Avaya Professional Services if needed) can retrieve or delete personal data from communication logs and recordings (Source: cxtoday.com). Additionally, Avaya’s newer platforms often encrypt personal data at rest and in transit – for example, Avaya Breeze and Oceana store interaction data which can be encrypted to comply with GDPR guidelines (Source: avaya.com). Avaya even provided GDPR help documents and updates to its workforce optimization suite to ensure recorded calls can be scrubbed or anonymized as needed (Source: synnexcorp.com)(Source: cxtoday.com). For hotels, which often operate internationally, these privacy features are critical to avoid fines and maintain guest trust. A concrete scenario: if a guest in Europe calls a hotel’s call center and provides an email, Avaya’s system might play a disclosure or require agent to ask for consent (via a script) for storing that info – Avaya can enforce such workflows to help compliance (Source: cxtoday.com).

2. Payment Card Industry (PCI) Compliance: Hotels process payments over the phone (e.g., a guest reserving a room might give credit card details to an agent). PCI DSS rules mandate that credit card info is protected and not stored improperly. Avaya contact center solutions can assist by offering features like “Secure Pause” – which allows call recordings to pause automatically when sensitive card info is spoken, so that recordings don’t capture CVV or full card numbers. Avaya also integrates with third-party secure payment IVR systems (like PCI-pal or Semafone) where the guest can enter their card number via phone keypad and the tones are masked to the agent (the data goes directly to the payment gateway). This ensures the agent never hears or sees the card, reducing PCI scope. The Nextiva blog reference to “Secure Payment Assist” in Avaya’s capabilities suggests Avaya has a solution to facilitate PCI-compliant payments by shielding sensitive data during interactions (Source: nextiva.com). In practice, many hotels use Avaya AES or DMCC API to integrate with payment systems for DTMF masking. Also, Avaya endpoints support disabling call recording on demand when financial info is discussed. Overall, Avaya can be part of a PCI compliance strategy, though hotels must still have proper network segmentation and policies in place beyond the phone system.

3. Emergency Calling and Safety (Kari’s Law, RAY BAUM’s Act): Safety of guests is paramount, and communications systems play a lifesaving role in emergencies. In the US, Kari’s Law (effective 2020) requires that anyone can dial 911 from a multi-line phone system without needing to dial a prefix (like 9). It also requires that the system notify a designated staff (like front desk or security) that a 911 call was placed, including the extension or room. Avaya PBXs are fully able to comply: administrators can configure dial plans so that “911” is recognized even if normally you dial 9 for outside lines (Source: support.avaya.com). Avaya provides documentation on how to set this up (digit conversion rules etc.) (Source: support.avaya.com). For notification, Avaya Communication Manager has a “Crisis Alert” feature that can ring or display an alert on selected phones when 911 is dialed (Source: support.avaya.com). This ensures hotel staff can respond (perhaps send security or unlock elevators for first responders, etc.).

RAY BAUM’s Act requires that a 911 call provide a “dispatchable location” – meaning more than just the street address; it should ideally include details like floor and room number or other specifics to find the caller. Avaya systems can fulfill this by using ELINs (Emergency Location Identification Numbers) or location-specific data configured for each extension. For example, each phone can be associated with its room number or floor in the Avaya Emergency Services settings, and when 911 is dialed, the system sends a corresponding number that is registered with the telco to indicate that location. In a large hotel, one might assign a bank of ELIN numbers such that 911 from Room 1521 sends out a number that maps to “15th floor, room 1521, North Tower, Hotel XYZ”. Avaya’s documentation and compliance solutions, including partnerships with E911 providers, enable this mapping (Source: intrado.com)(Source: documentation.avaya.com). Intrado (West) and RedSky are two providers who have Avaya-compliant solutions that can dynamically track IP phones and softphones and update their location in databases (Source: intrado.com). In fact, Intrado’s on-site Emergency Gateway device has an Avaya compliance certification and can integrate with Avaya Aura to automatically keep track of extensions and their locations, then route 911 calls appropriately (Source: intrado.com). Many hotels with VoIP phones deployed such solutions to meet the January 2022 RAY BAUM deadline for fixed phones. For wireless (like a cordless VoIP phone carried by staff), the law will require more – Avaya’s device location tracking (potentially via Wi-Fi location or manual provisioning) is something to plan for when those regulations fully apply.

4. Network Security and Segmentation: Hotels are juicy targets for cyberattacks (due to guest data and credit cards). A compromise in the communication system could lead to eavesdropping or toll fraud. Avaya systems come with security features like SRTP (Secure Real-Time Protocol) encryption for voice streams and TLS for signaling, which can prevent attackers from intercepting calls (Source: avaya.com). For instance, Avaya Aura supports Encrypted SRTCP for media control streams and SRTP for audio (Source: documentation.avaya.com). Administrators can enable these so that any call between an IP phone and the server is encrypted. Avaya also supports SIP TLS for trunking to secure external communication.

Avaya provides guidelines for securely deploying their systems: using firewalls and Session Border Controllers at the network edge, changing default passwords, disabling unused services, and applying software patches. Avaya’s Session Border Controller for Enterprise (SBCE) acts as a security gateway for SIP trunks and remote clients, defending against DoS attacks, intrusion, and fraud (like someone trying to pump expensive calls through the PBX). Many hotels with Avaya and SIP trunks will have an SBCE or a carrier SBC in place. These measures help ensure hackers cannot take control to, say, make international calls on the hotel’s dime or listen to calls.

Segmentation: In a well-designed network, the guest internet network is separated from the hotel’s operational network. Avaya voice should reside on the ops side, not the guest side. VLANs and ACLs will isolate voice traffic. Also, the Wi-Fi that staff might use for Avaya softphone apps (or Avaya wireless phones) should be on a secure SSID separate from public Wi-Fi. This prevents malicious guests from attempting to scan or attack the voice system.

5. Physical Security of Equipment: Servers running Avaya software should be in locked datacenters or telecom rooms, with proper access controls. Handsets in rooms are generally low risk, but any admin phones or consoles should be in controlled areas to avoid tampering (someone with physical access could potentially reprogram a phone). Avaya also supports login codes and authentication for phone use – e.g., requiring staff to log in to a phone to make outside calls, which can prevent unauthorized use.

6. Compliance with Hospitality Standards: Aside from legal, there are also brand standards and certification programs. For example, some hotel chains require that any call recording for quality is announced to guests (Avaya can play an automatic announcement if desired when connecting to reservations). Some chains might audit data handling – Avaya’s ability to restrict access to certain info helps here (for example, making sure recorded calls with personal data are accessible only to authorized supervisors, in line with brand policy).

In some locales, lawful intercept might be required (hotels rarely need this, but Avaya can support providing call records to law enforcement with proper warrants). Also, hotels dealing with government or corporate guests might have to ensure communications are secure to certain standards if those guests ask (e.g., maybe a government delegation wants assurance that the hotel’s phones are encrypted to discuss sensitive matters – Avaya encryption provides that reassurance).

7. Pandemic and Health Measures: While not classic “security”, the pandemic introduced new compliance measures – e.g., contactless interactions. Avaya helped here by enabling digital channels and voice automation to reduce face-to-face contact (for health safety compliance). Not a direct security point, but shows adaptability to compliance needs (like logs for contact tracing if needed, etc.).

8. Monitoring and Incident Response: Avaya systems come with logging and alarming capabilities. For instance, the system can raise alarms if suspicious activity occurs (like a phone suddenly making hundreds of calls, which could indicate toll fraud). These alerts can be tied into a SIEM (Security Info and Event Management) system for the hotel chain’s IT security team to monitor. Regular audits of user accounts on the PBX (to ensure no unauthorized accounts) are part of good practice – Avaya provides admin logs to facilitate that.

9. DevConnect Compliance Testing: Many third-party security solutions (like those E911 gateways, call recording systems, etc.) are Avaya DevConnect certified, meaning they’ve been tested for compatibility and not introducing vulnerabilities. Hotels should stick to those certified solutions for any add-ons to maintain a secure posture.

In conclusion, Avaya provides a comprehensive toolset to support hotels’ security and compliance obligations. The onus is on the hotel’s IT and partners to configure and use those tools correctly – e.g., enabling encryption (which might be off by default for compatibility reasons) or establishing the proper 911 dialing plans. When implemented properly, an Avaya communication system can be highly secure and compliant, giving both the hotel and its guests confidence. Many of the world’s most security-conscious hotel-casinos, luxury hotels (catering to VIPs), and large chains have Avaya at their core, which speaks to the level of trust in Avaya’s security framework. Whether it’s protecting guest privacy per GDPR or ensuring a 911 call from a room instantly alerts the right people with location, Avaya has proven solutions in place (Source: globenewswire.com)(Source: support.avaya.com). In a time where data breaches and safety incidents can severely damage a hotel’s reputation and incur huge costs, having a solid communications security posture via Avaya is a smart (and necessary) investment.

Future Trends and Avaya’s Adaptation (AI, Cloud-First, Hybrid Work)

The hospitality industry is evolving rapidly with new technologies and work models, and Avaya is actively adapting its solutions to keep hotels ahead of these trends. Key future-facing areas include artificial intelligence (AI), cloud-first architectures, and supporting a hybrid workforce – all of which Avaya is incorporating into its roadmap for hospitality.

1. Artificial Intelligence and Automation: AI is poised to transform customer service in hotels, and Avaya is embedding AI capabilities into its communications platforms to enable smarter, more proactive guest interactions. One major trend is the use of AI-powered virtual agents (chatbots/voicebots) to handle routine guest requests. Avaya’s contact center platform can integrate AI chatbots for websites or messaging apps so that, for example, a guest on a hotel’s website can ask “Do you have a pool and what are the hours?” and an AI chatbot instantly responds, deflecting a call to the front desk. On voice calls, Avaya Conversational AI (often via integration with Google Dialogflow or other AI services) can answer common questions or gather information before passing to a human agent. Avaya has developed the Avaya Virtual Agent offering, which delivers these AI-based automated interactions to businesses, improving service speed and availability (Source: integratormedia.com). For hotels, this could mean 24/7 automated reservation assistance or an AI concierge reachable by phone or smart speaker.

Furthermore, Avaya is focusing on AI orchestration and analytics to move from reactive handling of requests to predictive service. As described in an Avaya 2025 blog, Avaya’s vision is to use predictive AI to transform customer engagement from reactive problem-solving to proactive, anticipatory service (Source: avaya.com)(Source: avaya.com). In a hotel context, predictive AI might analyze patterns (perhaps using Avaya’s Infinity platform (Source: avaya.com)) such as guest inquiries, stay history, social media sentiment, etc., to predict needs – for example, alert staff that a guest might be checking out early due to a complaint, so they can intervene with a service recovery before the guest departs. Or if AI notes that a guest’s flight is arriving late, it could proactively offer a late check-out or dinner reservation and communicate that via Avaya channels. Avaya Infinity™ is a platform aimed at unifying data across the enterprise and injecting AI and intelligent workflows into contact centers (Source: avaya.com)(Source: avaya.com). For hotels, Infinity could connect data from PMS, CRM, and IoT (like room sensors) to Avaya’s communications. For example, if a VIP’s flight gets canceled (data from an airline API), Infinity might trigger Avaya to have an agent reach out to adjust the airport pickup and extend the booking – creating a “wow” moment for the guest. This kind of proactive service is a trend hotels are keen to implement, and Avaya is building the tools to do it.

AI is also enhancing internal operations via Avaya. For instance, speech analytics can automatically evaluate guest calls for sentiment, enabling managers to identify and address service issues faster. AI-driven agent assistance is another trend: Avaya can listen to calls and provide real-time suggestions or knowledge base articles to staff, helping even junior agents or front desk clerks handle inquiries like a seasoned pro. As hybrid (mix of AI and human) workflows emerge, Avaya emphasizes “human-technology collaboration” (Source: avaya.com) – meaning AI handles what it’s good at (data crunching, predictions), and human staff handle empathy and complex situations, with Avaya bridging the two in real time.

2. Cloud-First and Hybrid Cloud Strategies: The cloud trend is unmistakable, and Avaya’s strategy has pivoted to cloud and subscription offerings. While, as discussed, hotels have been cautious with full cloud for guest phones, there’s movement toward cloud for many aspects:

• Cloud Contact Centers: Many hotel chains are looking to cloud for their reservation and customer care centers to gain agility. Avaya’s Experience Platform (OneCloud CCaaS) is being continually enhanced, adding new channels (like WhatsApp, WeChat), AI features, and easy scalability. Avaya announced that dozens of companies in LATAM, including in hospitality, have adopted its Experience Platform in 2023 (Source: avaya.com). This shows the momentum of cloud contact centers even in traditionally on-prem industries.

• UCaaS for Corporate/Back-Office: For hotel corporate offices and possibly limited-service hotels, Avaya Cloud Office (ACO) provides a full UC suite in the cloud. Avaya’s partnership with RingCentral ensures the platform is competitive. Over time, Avaya may also tailor cloud offerings more to hospitality – possibly offering a “per-property” pricing or integration of ACO with hotel PMS. While not announced, one can envision Avaya developing a multi-tenant hospitality PBX cloud where each hotel is a tenant, analog trunks for 911 are at the site, etc., to truly move everything to cloud. They have done similar for other verticals (e.g., solutions hosted in data centers).

• Hybrid Deployments: Recognizing that hotels want to leverage cloud without losing their existing investments, Avaya strongly pushes hybrid models. Alan Masarek (Avaya’s CEO) has been quoted emphasizing “innovation without disruption” – allowing customers to layer cloud apps on top of on-prem systems (Source: avaya.com). In practice, this might mean a hotel keeps its Avaya PBX on-site but uses Avaya OneCloud CPaaS (Communication Platform as a Service) to add new capabilities: for instance, using Avaya CPaaS APIs to send SMS alerts to guests, or to integrate with a cloud CRM, while the core calling remains on-prem. It could also mean connecting an on-prem PBX to Avaya’s cloud for redundancy or burst capacity (e.g., if the hotel’s own PBX maxes out, overflow calls go to a cloud instance).

Avaya has also introduced Avaya Enterprise Cloud, essentially a private cloud hosted on Azure, as highlighted by the first enterprise cloud customer in Mexico (Source: avaya.com). This offering gives large customers a dedicated Avaya solution in the cloud – a chain could choose this to centralize all hotels. The significance for future is that even if hotels don’t go to public multi-tenant cloud, they might opt for Avaya-managed cloud in a region (for data sovereignty) and still shift the maintenance burden away from on-site. Avaya’s strategy is to attract customers by offering cloud at their own pace, on their terms (Source: avaya.com)(Source: avaya.com), which resonates with hotels who often have to upgrade property by property in phases.

In summary, Avaya is clearly aligning itself with a cloud-first world but one that respects the hybrid reality, which is exactly the stance many hotels have. We can expect Avaya to continue developing its cloud portfolio (like possibly more hospitality-specific capabilities in OneCloud, better integrations to cloud PMS systems, etc.).

3. Hybrid Workforce and Remote Work: The pandemic accelerated remote work trends, even in hospitality for certain roles (reservations agents, sales teams, corporate staff). Avaya was well-positioned to support this with its range of remote capabilities:

• Remote Agents: Avaya contact center solutions enabled agents to work from home with secure softphones or Avaya VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure) setups. Avaya’s Remote Worker features (via SBCE, etc.) allow an agent or reservation sales person to log in from anywhere and be part of the call queue as if on-site (Source: avaya.com)(Source: avaya.com). Many hotel companies during COVID shifted their central reservations to a virtual model using Avaya – this trend continues as it opens a wider talent pool and often saves facility costs. Avaya will likely refine these remote agent experiences, focusing on things like ensuring voice quality over home networks (with cloud SBCs or WebRTC), and providing collaboration tools for remote teams (like integrated chat channels for agents to ask supervisors questions while at home).

• Hotel Staff Mobility & Work Apps: Hybrid work in hotels might also refer to cross-location collaboration. For example, regional operations teams or cluster sales teams may not be in one office. Avaya’s workstream collaboration tool, Avaya Spaces, is something they’ve promoted as a competitor to Zoom/Teams. Spaces provides video meetings, team chat, file sharing. Avaya offered it for free for a time during the pandemic to help organizations. Hospitality companies can use Spaces for internal meetings, training across hotels, etc. The trend of hybrid meetings (some in-office, some remote) in hotel corporate environments means integration of these tools with the phone system is valuable – Avaya’s advantage is they can natively tie telephony with meetings (e.g., a front desk phone can join an Avaya Spaces meeting audio by dialing).

• Flexibility for Seasonal/Contract Workers: Hotels often have seasonal staff (e.g., hiring temporary reservation agents for holiday periods who work remotely). A cloud or hybrid Avaya system can flex up licenses for those periods and back down, which is a trend in workforce management. Avaya’s subscription models support bursting seats up/down which aligns with this need.

• Global Collaboration and Guest Services: Another “hybrid” aspect is support centers: e.g., one part of the world’s team assisting guests from another region. Avaya’s cloud and unified platforms allow companies to unify communications across geographies – a trend is to have follow-the-sun reservation centers or to allow staff to work from anywhere. Avaya can route calls dynamically worldwide to available agents in any location, which is increasingly common as workforce becomes distributed.

4. IoT and Smart Hotels: The future hotel is a smart building with hundreds of IoT sensors (thermostats, presence detectors, voice assistants, smart elevators). Avaya is positioning to be the communication backbone for IoT interactions. We already saw the Intelligent Hotel Room using IoT for door locks and environmental controls (Source: rcrwireless.com). In the future, expect Avaya to integrate more with voice assistants (perhaps an Alexa for Hospitality integration such that Alexa voice requests route into Avaya workflows – some hotels are piloting Alexa or Google Nest in rooms). Avaya’s Breeze platform allows customizing those workflows. For example, a guest says "Alexa, request towels", Alexa sends that intent to Avaya, Avaya triggers a task for housekeeping and sends a confirmation text to the guest’s phone. These types of voice-activated services are likely to grow, and Avaya’s open APIs make it possible.

Additionally, 5G networks and Wi-Fi 6 in hotels could enable new communications, like staff using 5G push-to-talk devices integrated with Avaya. Avaya might not make the 5G, but their apps can leverage it for better mobile connectivity.

5. Enhanced Guest Personalization via Data: Future Avaya systems will likely leverage more data-driven personalization, as data integration gets deeper (via Infinity and AI). For instance, on an incoming call, not just showing CRM info, but maybe the AI predicts the purpose of the call (based on time, past pattern, etc.) and proactively offers an answer. Or routing calls not just by available agent but by best fit – e.g., a caller who speaks Spanish and is a loyalty Platinum might be automatically routed to a Spanish-speaking VIP desk agent. This kind of intelligent routing using AI (Avaya calls it Attribute-Based Routing) is something in Avaya’s current capabilities (Source: nextiva.com) and will likely expand. It’s relevant in hotels with diverse clientele.

6. Workflows and Low-Code Customization: As hotels adopt more tech, a need arises for quickly creating custom communications workflows (for example, a health screening IVR for guests calling, or a bot for spa bookings). Avaya is pushing “Experience Builders” – essentially enabling customers/partners to easily build custom apps on Avaya via low-code tools or APIs. This trend means hotels could adapt faster to new requirements. For instance, if a sudden need to set up a hotline for a special event arises, a hotel IT could spin it up on Avaya CPaaS with minimal coding. Avaya’s platform, with CPaaS and Breeze, is ready for that agile development approach which is increasingly demanded.

7. Sustainability and Cost Efficiency: Not tech per se, but trends like energy savings and cost focus will persist. Avaya’s newer devices are more energy-efficient (PoE Class 1 devices, sleep modes), aligning with hotels’ sustainability goals. Also, moving to cloud can reduce physical footprint and power usage on-site, contributing to green initiatives (data centers can be more efficient at scale).

8. Competitive Pressures and Integration with Other Platforms: Hotels use many software platforms (Service Optimization, Guest Messaging apps, etc.). Future Avaya will likely offer deeper integrations or partnerships – e.g., integration with Microsoft Teams (since some hotels might use Teams at corporate, Avaya allows direct routing integration so Teams can tie into Avaya telephony). Similarly, Avaya might integrate with CRM players like Salesforce or Oracle OPERA Cloud more seamlessly, because hotels adopting cloud PMS will want the PBX to talk to it (e.g., Opera Cloud has API vs old FIAS; Avaya will need connectors for that). Avaya’s DevConnect program keeps them integrating with emerging hotel tech vendors too.

In conclusion, Avaya’s adaptation to future trends can be summarized as becoming more cloudified, more intelligent, and more integrated. The company’s recent messaging highlights delivering “innovation faster, with higher quality” by embracing AI and flexible platforms (Source: avaya.com). For hospitality professionals, this means their investment in Avaya is not just for today’s needs but is a foundation for tomorrow’s innovations – whether that’s implementing a virtual concierge, enabling staff to work from anywhere, or leveraging predictive insights to delight guests. Avaya’s enduring presence in hotels, combined with these forward-looking enhancements, positions it as a key partner for hotels aiming to be at the cutting edge of guest service and operational excellence in the years ahead.

Sources:

• Avaya case study and news sources illustrating hospitality deployments and benefits (Source: uctoday.com)(Source: uctoday.com) (Source: tourismbreakingnews.ae)(Source: hotelmanagement.net) (Source: hotelmanagement.net).

• Industry publications on hotel technology, including UC Today and Hotel Management, detailing how Avaya solutions are used by brands like Moxy Hotels and The Old Mill Toronto (Source: hotelmanagement.net)(Source: uctoday.com) (Source: uctoday.com).

• Avaya’s own press releases and surveys on hospitality trends (guest experience importance, mobile engagement, ROI) (Source: globenewswire.com)(Source: globenewswire.com).

• Partner and integrator insights (The Maynard Group, Travel Outlook) on the capabilities Avaya brings (guest personalization, omnichannel, integration) (Source: themaynardgroup.com)(Source: insights.ehotelier.com).

• Technical documentation references for compliance and features (PMS integration, E911, security) (Source: support.avaya.com)(Source: cxtoday.com).

• Discussion from industry forums (Reddit) highlighting the competitive landscape and typical usage of Avaya vs others in hotels (Source: reddit.com)(Source: reddit.com).

• RCR Wireless and other tech news on Avaya’s new hospitality innovations like the Intelligent Hotel Room Experience with Avaya Vantage and IoT integration (Source: rcrwireless.com)(Source: rcrwireless.com).

• Avaya CEO and product blogs about AI and cloud strategy, indicating the future direction relevant to hospitality (Source: avaya.com)(Source: avaya.com).

All these sources collectively demonstrate Avaya’s prominent role and continued evolution in serving the hotel and lodging industry’s communication needs.